Chapter 36 Emma
Emma
My head was pounding, and I was pretty sure I still smelled like vomit.
My eyelids drooped, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away from Caleb, who loomed over me like a protective grizzly.
His big form towered over the bed, his eyes filled with concern, that five-o’clock shadow of his giving him a rugged, almost-feral look that, even in my groggy state, sent a shiver down my spine. “I was wrong too,” I whispered.
“About not waiting?”
“No, I’m actually not sorry about that.”
“Ohmigod, I love her,” Kiera whispered to Tucker.
I started to smile, but it hurt, so I sucked in a breath instead. “Earlier, back at your house, when I said we were done. That was me running scared.”
Caleb shifted closer, his broad shoulders blocking out the harsh hospital lights. His hazel eyes, more green than golden brown today, held mine. “You ghosted me.”
Regret was a lead ball in my gut. “I mean, I told you I was leaving, which technically is different from ghosting.”
He tilted his head, eyes wry. “Technically, you wanted to walk out on me before I could walk out on you. Because that’s what you believed would happen eventually. You didn’t think I could stick around.”
“I didn’t think you could stick with me,” I corrected. “It was about me and my failings, Caleb, not yours.”
He gently squeezed my hand, then brushed a kiss over my palm. “You don’t think you’re worthy of me staying. But, Emma, I’ve never been with anyone more worthy of love. I fell for you in spite of myself, hopelessly and fully.”
I blinked. “Either the meds are messing with me, or you just told me you…like me a lot.”
Tucker and Kiera both chortled with wicked glee, and when Caleb swiveled his head to glare at them, Tucker managed to wipe the amusement off his face. “I mean, wow, this is brand-new information.”
“Never could’ve guessed,” Kiera said innocently.
“Get out.” Caleb turned back to me, and because we were chronic dumbasses, we just stared at each other.
Finally, I gave him a tight smile. “We haven’t exactly said this to each other before. The whole L-word thing.”
He let out a long breath. “We…haven’t.”
“I mean, we could pretend you didn’t say it, or…” I was certain the entire emergency department could hear my heart pounding. “Or I could tell you I feel the same.”
His smile was brilliant, and in those eyes of his, I saw my past, present, and future as he drank me in like I was all he needed.
“Cute,” Tucker said. “They’re both terrified of the…” He lowered his voice into a dramatic whisper. “L-word.”
“Shh,” Kiera said, swatting him. “He might still blow this, and I don’t want to miss it.”
Caleb’s head dropped to my shoulder as he took in a few gulps of air. “I’m begging you both to get the fuck out,” he said against my skin.
“You know what’s even cuter?” Kiera asked Tucker. “He actually thinks we’ll leave just when it’s getting good.”
Tucker snorted.
Caleb continued to inhale me, like I was his oxygen. I slid my fingers into his silky hair so he couldn’t leave. He simply tightened his grip on me, like he’d never leave, not unless I wanted him to.
“What happened tonight?” I asked.
Caleb lifted his head to meet my gaze. “You don’t remember?”
“Some. I remember walking along the side of the manor and hearing running steps. And then being shoved.” I looked into Caleb’s eyes. “I heard you calling for me, and then you appeared.” He’d dropped to his knees at my side, panting for breath like he’d been running.
The way he’d looked at me, the comforting scrape of his calluses when he’d rested his palm on my cheek, the feel of his fingers as they’d slid into my hair, how he’d stared into my eyes with intensity and relief while begging me to keep my eyes open.
Tucker rose from his perch and came closer, looking down at his phone.
Ryder was on FaceTime from the waiting room.
He had Hank on one side of him, Penny on the other.
Alex was on Ryder’s lap, eating his way through a bag of chips—Cheetos, by the looks of his orange fingers and the equally orange fingerprints all over Ryder.
Ali was sitting on his shoulders, holding onto his hair like he was her personal steed. She had an orange mustache.
“Seriously, Ry?” Kiera asked.
“Hey, you told me to keep the heathens busy; I’m keeping the heathens busy.” Ry looked at me. “Emma, how you feeling?”
“Like I had a fight with a stucco wall and lost.”
His eyes softened. “I’m so sorry you got hurt.”
“I’m fine.”
Ryder let out a mirthless chuckle in Caleb’s direction. “She’s as bullheaded as you.”
Caleb squeezed my hand. “Tell me something I don’t know. You go through the rest of the surveillance footage?”
Ryder nodded. “Saw a white truck racing away from the site through the back gate. Probably the same one you saw.” His expression was grim.
“The motion sensor didn’t trigger the lights, so we didn’t get a plate or a look at the driver.
But there’s something else—Ricky’s missing trailer filled with tools?
It’s parked in the far back of the barn. ”
Tucker and Caleb stared at him, astonished. I figured I was already wearing the same expression from the events of the night.
“It’s fucking back,” Ry said. “Right where it vanished from, like it was never gone.”
Tucker shook his head in disbelief. “What does that even mean?”
Ry shook his head. “I don’t know. Yet.” He looked at Caleb again. “Hoping our fixer figures it out.”
Caleb nodded, and I knew that look. Come hell or high water, he’d get to the bottom of it.
Ryder’s gaze turned to me. “From what I hear, you’re going to be released, but you’ll have to take it easy for a few days. Is there anything I can do for you?”
“Can you let Rosalind know I won’t be in tomorrow?”
Ry looked at his watch. “It’s already tomorrow, and yes, I’ll let her know.” He paused. “I understand you got an offer from them. And us.”
I glanced at Caleb and found him watching me. “I did.” Several things had become clear to me tonight. I wasn’t going to let myself be afraid of losing good things in my life. Not ever again. “I’m…taking the job.”
“Which one?” Ryder asked.
Caleb had stilled. I wasn’t sure he was even breathing.
“Yours,” I whispered.
The little bay we were all crowded in seemed to take a collective breath of relief. Caleb squeezed my hand, a slow, warm smile on his face.
“We’re lucky to have you,” Ryder said.
My eyes stayed locked on Caleb. “I’m also taking your brother.”
Ryder shrugged. “Everyone’s got their weak spots.”
Caleb disconnected and leaned over me. “Thank you,” he whispered, then dropped a very gentle kiss to my mouth.
“For accepting the job?” I asked.
“For accepting me.”
“Holy shit,” Kiera said. “This is real. Caleb landed someone we actually all love.”
“Shh,” Tucker said. “He still has to tell her it’s because he saw the Legend of Star Falls.”
Kiera gasped. “He saw it? For real? Like Ryder did right before he fell in love with Penny?”
Caleb dropped his head to my shoulder, mumbling about nosy-ass siblings who never mind their own business.
The nurse came into the bay with release papers. “We’re cutting you loose, but only if you have people at home to keep an eye on you.”
Everyone in the room raised their hand.
The nurse smiled at me. “Seems you’re a lucky girl; you’ve got a lot of people who care about you.”
I took them all in and realized just how true that was. It had happened so slowly, I hadn’t even realized I truly was no longer alone. Caleb caught my gaze and clearly read my thoughts, because he gave me a warm, just-for-me smile.
“So,” the nurse said, “who’s in charge of her for the next twenty-four hours?”
“Me,” Caleb said firmly. “I’ve got her.”
***
Two days later, I sat up and gave a sigh of relief. No headache. No lingering exhaustion. No pain where my stitches were. My legs were numb, but that was the deadweight of the two boxers lying across my thighs.
Calvin and Klein lifted their sleepy, ridiculously cute heads, and I swore they smiled at me.
“Where’s your dad?” I asked, because Caleb’s side of the bed was empty.
And cold. He’d been gone awhile then. I eyed the clock, and my jaw dropped.
Ten in the morning!
I tossed the covers aside and stood just as Caleb appeared in the doorway, wearing only his glasses and low-slung cotton sleep pants that clung to his incredible bod, showing off tattoos and muscles and generally just making my mouth water.
But that might have been because he was carrying a tray full of food.
“Sleeping Beauty awakens.”
I rolled my eyes, and hey, even that didn’t hurt. Flashing a smile, I sniffed appreciatively. Yes, the man smelled amazing, but the food… “You made me breakfast in bed?”
“Don’t tell anyone.”
I laughed, then laughed again when he ordered the dogs to get down and neither moved. He pulled out his alpha male voice. “Down, now.”
With a sigh, both dogs jumped off the bed but didn’t go far, plopping to the floor, their noses twitching at the delicious breakfast scents.
I gave Caleb the gimme hands, and he set the tray in my lap. A stack of pancakes, crispy bacon, and a bowl of strawberries… I was in heaven.
“If I could get you alone for five minutes, I’d get you to look at me like that.”
I couldn’t respond because my mouth was already full, but I grinned at him with my eyes. He wasn’t kidding—we hadn’t been alone. His house had been Grand Central Station, but after being on my own for so long, I thrived on the company.
We had the dogs, plus Hank was usually here, and there was a new quiet peace between him and Caleb.
On top of that, someone else was always stopping by.
Kiera with the twins. Tucker, to watch a ball game or play basketball in the driveway with Caleb, which was more like a game of survival, the way the two of them went at each other one-on-one.
Ryder had been here a lot, sometimes with Penny, who always brought the most amazing food.
Suzie had been by, and there’d been a tough few moments when she’d cried about me not confiding in her about my circumstances.
She’d made me pinkie promise to never ever keep anything from her again.
Hazel had been around too. At first, I thought it was because she and Caleb were so close or that she felt bad about what had happened.
Turned out it was both, and more. We had a lot in common.
We’d both lost our moms too soon, had difficult relationships with our dad, and had spent years trying to find our place in this world. Our new friendship meant a lot to me.
Rosalind had also come to see me, to ask me to reconsider their offer. I’d thanked her for everything, but I was going to stick with Colburn Restorations, and for the first time in my life, I felt happy and secure and safe, all at the very same time.
And now, finally, it was just me and Caleb—and the dogs. I patted the spot beside me. He slid his sexy ass next to mine, wrapped one arm around me, and, with his free hand, grabbed some bacon.
“Soooo…” Nerves had my pulse kicking. “There’s something I’ve been wanting to talk about.”
“Yeah?” He chewed. Swallowed. Kissed me. He waggled his brows suggestively. “That’s a euphemism for all the sex we haven’t had over the past few days, right?”
“Wrong!” I laughed, pressing up against his body, and had second thoughts. “Well, okay, yes, but first, a question.”
He looked deeply into my eyes. “Anything.”
He meant it, and I snuggled into him, my hand running up and down his torso, north and south and north and south again…and his reaction—a rough groan and an obvious erection—encouraged me to stay south for the winter, even if it was summer.
On a rough chuckle, he caught my hand from sliding into his sleep pants. “Your question.”
Right. “The Legend. You saw it for real?” I’d never met anyone who’d actually seen the three falling stars firsthand, other than Ryder and Penny.
“Yeah,” he said, muffled against my throat. “I saw the Legend.” He chuckled. “Scared?”
I wasn’t sure… If I believed in the Legend, then I was accepting predestination, not choice. I didn’t like that, but I also believed that we made our own fate, Legend or otherwise.
My silence must’ve gone on too long because he lifted his head. “You gave me your heart, and there’re no takebacks, Emma. I’m keeping it. But I promise you”—his eyes were serious now—“it’s the most precious thing I own. I’ll take care of it and protect it forever.”
I sucked in a breath. “Forever?”
“Or as long as you’ll have me.”
I blinked, considering him.
He didn’t waver. Behind him, out the window, the day had begun without us, the sky a pure azure, not a cloud in sight. But all I could see was Caleb watching me, patiently waiting for me to put words to my thoughts.
He’d seen me at my worst and still loved me.
It was…the most amazing thing to ever have happened to me, and I knew my life would never be the same.
I took in his face, that beautiful, expressive face, the one I wanted to see grow old, and knew life would continue after this moment, a series of befores and afters that would become our story.
And I knew I’d choose this, him, every single time.
I had no doubt of that, or his love for me.
Or mine for him.
His eyes were bright with an emotion I now knew the name of, and I smiled. “It might be a really long time.”
“Counting on it.”